Cardinal Franc Rodé,
C.M., Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Archbishop emeritus of
Ljubljana, was born on 23 September 1934 in Jarše, Ljubljana
(Slovenia). He was ordained a
priest on 29 June 1960 for the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians)
and holds a degree in theology.

Cardinal Rodé began his service in parish
ministry and then began teaching at the faculty of theology in
Ljubljana. His positions on church-state relations, his belief in a
school system respectful of Christian values and his attack on
communism kept him under surveillance by the secret police. During
these years, he regularly published articles in Catholic magazines.

In 1981 he was appointed undersecretary and
later secretary of the Holy See’s Secretariat for Non-Believers.
When the dicastery was closed, Cardinal Rodé became Secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Culture.

On 5 March 1997 he was appointed Metropolitan
Archbishop of Ljubljana and was president of the Bishops’s
Conference. He received episcopal ordination on 6 April 1997.

On 11 February 2004 he was appointed prefect
of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic Life.

Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 4 January 2011.

Created and proclaimed cardinal by Benedict
XVI in the consistory of 24 March 2006, of the Deaconry of San
Francesco Saverio alla Garbatella (St. Francis Xavier at Garbatella).

Member of:

Congregations: of Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments; for the Evangelization
of Peoples.